Her decision to place him in the Nile and let go of her care of him was not based on what she would gain in the future, it was based on what her heart knew was the right thing to do in the moment. Did Moses’ mother live to see him as a grown man, living in royalty and then leading the Israelites out of bondage? I don’t know.

God working in the bigger picture so often beyond our sight, beyond our understanding and even beyond our own lifetime. Did everything happen exactly the way it is described in scripture?īut more importantly, why? Why is this story so important? It’s not the specific details of the story at all, right? Did everything I just talked about and everything that scripture tells us happen exactly like it is written? Probably not…I hope this hasn’t devastated you! But this you must understand, whether the details are correct or not, this story is extremely important because it teaches us about real life, real difficult situations and the living God who is always working in the bigger picture. A story told over and over again throughout the generations, throughout time by faithful people recounting the history and the roots of the Israelites and their leader Moses. It’s a beautiful story isn’t it? And that is what it is…a story. Moses’ life is now secure, he is safe in the home of Pharaoh’s daughter. She knew herself, her instinctive drive to care for her child and she knew the heart of a woman. I have been thinking about how Moses’ mother was so wise in her plan. Hearing his cry, she is drawn into the presence of this infant and desires to care for him, becoming his substitute mother until Moses is a grown man. Now what happens next might just seem like simple luck…the basket is placed close to where Pharaoh’s daughter comes to the water to bathe, and lo and behold she finds the infant Moses. But she is strategic in where she places the basket. So we know now how the rest of the story goes, she prepares this water-proof basket, places Moses in the basket and gently puts him into the water, hidden behind the reeds. But it was a solution that required a heart wrenching “letting go”: a letting go of a part of herself and letting go of a life she loved beyond loving. The internal struggle to find a solution and a way out of the pending doom led her to plot a way to protect her infant son forever. She must be desperate, desperate to find any way to keep Moses alive. Moses’ mother must have known from the moment she knew she was to have a child that this day would come, a day she would have to give up her baby. We mothers, we’re attached to our babies even before they are born. I can’t imagine what this must have been like for her or the pressure she was feeling. I imagine her concern for his safety is growing more intense each day.

They start moving around more, making more noise, so surely his presence was starting to get noticed. Whatever it takes to keep his birth a secret, this is what Moses’ mother would have to do! But now Moses is a little older, 3 months old and we know what 3 month old infants are like. This makes sense, he is quiet, newborns sleep a lot, her close friends would keep the secret and she is able to keep him out of sight while closed off in their small home.

Moses is born and his mother is able to hide him at first.

Papyrus basket with tar and pitch